One thing I’ve always loved about New York – a city I predominantly travel to solo, in order to be as selfish as possible and do exactly what I want for five days straight – is its glut of restaurants with counters. Here, as a solo traveller, you can sit up at a gleaming bar without feeling at all conspicuous, banter with the bar staff or watch chefs sizzle and chop in their open kitchens. I say New York’s counters – or “bar seating” in local restaurant parlance – are superior to its tables, however comfy, discreet or spacious they may be.
But I’m not usually tucking into delicate, artsy platters of fine dining creations, as I was at l’Abeille – usually the bar is best suited to unwieldy, sauce-dripping tacos or cocktails and tapas. I’d booked in for a special treat on a landmark trip to New York, my first following the pandemic and nearly two years of being unable to visit. This time I’d chosen to stay Downtown, in Soho, something everyone should do after they’ve been a handful of times and seen the Statue of Liberty, Empire State et al. My favourite of these gradually narrowing downtown ’hoods is Tribeca, home of the city’s film festival, Robert De Niro’s excellent hotel and celeb pads owned by everyone from Harry Styles to The Weeknd.
